Sunday, August 19, 2012

Millions of Peaches...

...peaches for me!

No seriously. About a million peaches are living on my damn dining table thanks to our dear friend at the Georgia State Farmer's Market. And instead of putting them in the fridge as soon as they were ripe, my dear Jack decided that these could be his new creative outlet. Every day I come home to find the peaches lovingly arranged in a new bowl....on the counter....not in the fridge....going bad.

So now they are peaches with a rapidly approaching deadline. Time bomb peaches? Peach bombs? BELLINI BOMBS!.... oooh, chapmagne.... what? Nevermind...

So anyway, never having been a big fan of fresh peaches (growing up I always preferred the canned ones -- freak child, I know)... I've spent the past 2 weeks trying to do things with peaches before they explode. Boom.

Grilled Peaches with Balsamic Vinegar
It sounded great, but in all honesty, it was kinda Meh. Probably flawed execution...and lack of vanilla ice cream (I'm a chocolate ice cream girl, really)... And nope, I'm not even gonna post the recipe.

Crock Pot Peach Cobbler
Well, it sounded good... but in all honesty, it was such a pain in the ass that I don't see how it could've been easier than the real thing. And problem #2: nothing gets crispy in the crock pot... except the BURNED bottom (yep, that's TWO crock pot recipes in a row that have ended up charred.... and this is why I think crock pots should only be used in the winter!) And problem #3: there's STILL no vanilla ice cream in the house... hmm...

Yup... you can totally burn a crock pot.
Peach Preserves (or, is it Jam?)
FINALLY!! With the last 10 very ripe peaches, I made something good! I've never even attempted preserves before (or is it technically jam? -- what's the difference anyway?), but my mom gave me a vague idea and we went from there.

Here's what happened...

Seed & peel the peaches (yup, that takes a while)...


Then add the sugar and water to a pot and cook over medium-high heat stirring until the sugar is dissolved (mostly), then add the peaches.


And then you let them simmer.... and stir... and simmer... and add the brown sugar and cinnamon... and stir... and simmer... and repeat (don't let it boil over, because it will! I tried to keep the heat medium to medium low -- bubbling, but no threat of disaster).


And this was after 45 minutes. Whew. I kept breaking up the larger pieces with the spoon.... and stirring.... and simmering....

It was finally done when it had reduced A LOT and just starting to stick to the bottom of the pot - about an hour or so.


So 10 peaches made one VERY full mason jar full of preserves! I don't know what you put peach jampreserves on, but I'm about to find out because I have this yummyness now!


The recipe:

10 very ripe peaches (seeded & peeled)
1 cup sugar
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
1 dash cinnamon (maybe 1/2 teaspoon if you wanna be all technical)
1/4 cup water

Peel & seed the peaches. Add sugar and water to your pot and cook over medium-high heat (constantly stirring) until sugar mostly dissolves. Add the peaches. Bring to a boil, but then reduce heat to medium-low so that it's still simmering, just not boiling over. Add brown sugar & cinnamon. Continue to stir (occasionally) and simmer for about an hour or until it reaches desired thickness. Keep in mind that it will get thicker once it cools. Enjoy!



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